Fruits of the Garden!!!

Today the barbadoes cherry tree was awash in red and after a brief rainfall I went out and picked all that I could reach. Now I have a couple of pounds of fresh cherries.

Soon to be cherry jam! YUM!

Limes are a gift from the gods great for marinades, a slice in a beer or a base for a margarita.

Avocado's to be ripened and made into a buttery chunky guacamole laced with the aforementioned limes and some cilantro. Heavenly.

Between that and the 20 or so small plants I transplanted into larger pots we are set for a while.

Have a lovely day!

Simply say "NO"

I know I have not been blogging a lot this month. Things have been hectic between traveling for vacation, traveling for work, and the bare basics that need to be done here at home I have been feeling a bit stretched.
O.k. a lot stretched. There is always something that needs to be done...groceries, dishes, dinner, laundry. Not to mention work and family.

So today I am home on the couch - again. The usual sinus infection and asthma. I really have to learn to step back and take better care of myself.  I can take care of everyone around me but have not learned to say 'no" before I get so run down I can barely function. I am doing better now. Really...I don't go to work sick at all anymore. Before I took this job I would go to work sick all the time and most likely made a lot of other people sick.  Now I am not allowed in food service areas when I am sick- Yippee!! I can actually stay home. Resting, however, is really hard for me unless I am running a high fever.

That now finds me on the couch, a diet soda at my side watching old re-runs of  "In the Heat of the Night." A chicken is cooking in the crock pot so at least we will have a good dinner tonight. I can sleep easily this afternoon without worrying about much.

Now I need to remember that the word "no" is an option and I can use it to make life easier. I can tell my coworkers to contact our boss sometimes and let them make their own mistakes instead of spending my time doing some of their work for them. I could have been home early yesterday but I did not use "no" even though  I was exhausted with a screaming headache. Instead I helped someone else finish their work.

I just had a chance to put this into action. A co-worker called and asked me a question I would have had to look up on my work computer. My work laptop is not even on right now so it would have taken a minimum of  15 minutes and I would have had to get up and try to find the answer for him. I simply told him I was sick and asked him to call our boss. My coworker is a great guy so he told me to feel better and had no problems with my "no".  Too bad I can't do that more often.

Maybe some of us believe that if we say no we are 'less than" or we don't measure up. Or maybe we have been been taught that saying "no" is a weakness. Society and the big ad companies tell us every day that we can do anything and be anything if we buy the right products or take the right medicines. Thus we are told we can be all things, to all people, at all times. With the right drug or the right time saving device we can do more and be more than we were ever intended to do or be.   Even if the ads don't say it specifically  they go out of thier way show  people boating, biking, running, gardening, and generally being happy in beautifully landscaped exteriors and impeccably decorated interiors.

All of this is coming at us fast and furious. With all this pressure how then is someone to maintain any degree of balance in their lives? I guess sating "no" when necessary is a start.

I am off to the doctor and am saying "yes" to myself.
Jo

A New Kitchen... Almost

My apologies for not posting sooner. I was out of town for work for all of the last week. I did not think the State would approve of me blogging on their time with their computer so I simply waited til I got home.

As I type my amazing hubby is installing the garbage disposal and new sink (new to us) in our "new" kitchen.
He has been working very hard this week to finish up the project that we had begun a little over a year ago. Why so long you ask? Well, we decided that when we did the kitchen it would be best to do it in bits and pieces as we could afford it in both money and time.

Phase one: Cabinets still in place

Unused dead space.

Unused dead space

The countertops we got for free off of Craig's list a couple of years ago. Large sheets of granite that had been pulled out of someones home because they did not like them.  Go figure, thousands of dollars of free granite. Rob had to figure out how to cut it and fit it but it is lovely! The cabinets we purchased pre-made and Rob installed them. One set of our old cabinets were salvageable and we painted them white. The other cabinets were too far gone to be salvaged. They had actually rotted out at the bottom from water damage somewhere down the line.  The sink is a cast iron Kohler with a Moen sprayer faucet and that came from Craig's List for $150.00.

Added Cabinets in dead space.

Cabinets over sink removed. Old lighting still in place and cabinets still "pink".

We tried out different configurations through an online software program and decided that with our skills it would be best to simply stay with the current layout. We did eliminate 1 bank of cabinets over the sink area and we added counter space and cabinets on the end of the kitchen in an area that had been dead space.
Lighting was purchased on clearance and we used the good ole military discount at Lowe's (when we remembered to take it along) on other items along the way. Thus far we have spent  just over $1,000.00.

We have not purchased new appliances but have been looking online and at Lowe's today to get some ideas. Our old appliances were a gift from my parents when they replaced theirs a few years ago. We were glad to get them as ours were in bad shape.  I would like something a little more energy efficient thus would like to get a new fridge ASAP. Rob would like a new stove and microwave first.  Either way they are a great expense and we can be patient and wait until we can afford them. Maybe even buy them one at a time - as long as they are the same color I do not care about the brand....o.k. I do want the Maytag energy efficient fridge :).

Next week or later this week  I'll post pictures of the completed kitchen. There is just too much crap all over right now. It would not do justice to all of Robs hard work.

Until then have a lovely week!!!
Jo